Every salon owner knows her numbers tell a story. Sometimes that story has a happy ending, and sometimes it needs some editing.

When Candice Hammit, co-owner of DV8 the Salon in Grapevine, Texas, recently read the story of her 2018 numbers, she found that the chapter on Aveda Shine Treatments needed a re-write for 2019.

“We realized for every hair cut we did, if we had added a Shine Treatment, we would have made an extra $118,000 in 2018,” she says. “In actuality, we only did $8,000—just 7 percent of that potential.”

At Lavender Square Salon in South Lake, Texas, owners Sarah Sibley and Zaheer Mohammed are also just scratching the surface of revenue from Shine services.

“We took over the salon six months ago,” Sibley says. “The previous owners ran contests to see who could sell the most Shine services, so the culture of talking about it was already in place, but there’s potential for more revenue.”

Sibley and Mohammed now coach stylists on the revenue opportunity with Shine, emphasizing the consultation.

“I want guests to get what they need, which is not necessarily what they booked for,” Sibley says.

Karen Wallace, a hair stylist specializing in cuts at Paris Parker Salon & Spa in New Orleans, says after she learned how simple the Shine service was to perform, she embraced it.

“I’m not a colorist, so I had to play with it and get comfortable,” she says. “And I learned not to overthink it when I ask clients if they’re interested in a Shine Treatment.”

Over the holidays, Wallace participated in an add-on competition at Paris Parker and averaged three to five clients (out of 10) a day who purchased a Shine Treatment.

The Price is Right

What clients often need is shinier, healthier-looking hair. Stylists can mix up Shine in about two minutes and apply/saturate it in five minutes (with or without added color), making it the perfect introduction to color services.

Research shows that the next generation of guests is more resistant to coloring their hair. The top reason millennials give: fear of damage. With a Shine Treatment, they can instantly see and feel the benefits of the treatment, so it’s the perfect way to ease the resistant guest toward color that you know they’d love.

At DV8, the price for Shine is $35, regardless of the level of the stylist—a perfect entry-level price.

“The clear Shine is great to enhance color and add shine between color services,” Hammit says. “It’s the ideal way to introduce a color service to a cut-only guest.”

“It can also be used to cut warmth if hair is too brassy,” she says. “It even helps with taming frizz and fly-aways.”

To maximize their Shine potential in 2019, DV8 brought in Alberto Rossell-Davis to educate.

“Then we researched how many hair cuts per day we had, and found our potential,” she says.

And just a few months into 2019, Hammit is seeing results.

“We’re now earning double what we were doing in 2018 from Shine services,” she says. “And we’re not even close to maximizing it yet.”

At Lavender Square, Sibley and Mohammed priced their Shine service according to hair length.

“We start with $21.50 for short hair and go up to $46.50 for extra long hair,” Sibley says. “But those prices don’t vary per stylist.”

Mohammed adds, “With eight stylists, we bring in about $3,500 per month in revenue between Shine and color tones (Shine + demi color),” he says. “That’s 12 percent of our total color revenue.”

Wallace also took a class with Rossell-Davis, and learned the right way to pitch the Shine Treatment.

“During the consultation, I simply ask if they want a Shine or Conditioning Treatment,” she says. “And they usually say ‘Yes.’”

Wallace also leverages her bridal business for more Shine revenue.

“For my brides, we do a Shine Treatment and blowout for the rehearsal dinner, and then they come back the next day for the wedding style,” she says. “And the bridal party gets Shine Treatments, too.”

Marketing and Education

At DV8, one of the front desk staff created a chart that showed stylists how much more income they could produce by including a Shine service with guests.

“Once they saw the potential, they got really buzzed about it,” Hammit says.

Another perk? Guests with shining, bouncy hair are walking advertisements. With the goal of converting hair cut guests to color, Shine is the gateway.

“It’s part of the conversation in the consultation now. If a client isn’t here for color, we talk about it as a five-minute add-on. We want to convert these guests to color and lead them to bigger color services.”

For their color guests, Lavender Square offers the Shine Treatment as a way to add an extra layer of shine and moisture to their hair.

“After clients have it done once, they see and feel the difference, and they’re sold,” Sibley says. “In fact, they’ll often tell their stylist not to forget ‘that Shine Treatment.’”

Sibley says one Lavender Square stylist is putting a Shine or Botanical Treatment on almost every client.

“She’s not our highest-priced stylist, but she consistently brings in a lot of revenue using Shine and other add-on services,” she says. “Our career path is based on service totals, which she has boosted, and it also leverages guests into other color services.

“She’s successful because she tells clients they need it in the consultation,” Sibley adds. “She says, ‘Based on what we talked about today, your service is going to be $130.’ She doesn’t break it down unless the client asks. She’s soft spoken, but comes to clients with confidence and an informed opinion.”

Mohammed adds, “One of our priorities is always going to be the income of the stylist. We’ll always coach from that perspective and let them know they can maximize the amount of revenue they receive from every guest.”

At Paris Parker, the Shine Treatment is $25. Stylists are goaled to do five per week, and have reviewed what that will do to their weekly, monthly and yearly salary.

What to Say to Make that Raise Happen

What’s a client’s favorite topic? Their own hair, of course. So talking to them about the Aveda Shine Treatment is a win-win. Not sure how to get the conversation started? Alberto Rossell-Davis, Director of Hair Color Sales and Education for Aveda, recommends using these bullet points to educate clients on Shine:

• “We have a new Shine Treatment that only takes five minutes.”
• “It lasts 20 washes and conditions, and protects from breakage”
• “When we shampoo today, do you want to add extra shine to your hair?”

Here’s how much additional Shine Treatments increase your service tickets for the year*:

• One per day: $6,250
• Two per day: $12,500
• Three per day: $18,750

*Service ticket revenue increase based on $25 treatment pricing and a five-day workweek, 50 weeks of the year.

Download the FREE DIGITAL TOOLS to launch Shine in your salon here.